Lance Stroll makes major admission over Aston Martin’s previous upgrade plan

Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll admitted the team took a slight “wrong direction” with its development direction, and have taken a “different path” to correct it.

Aston Martin had started the 2023 season as one of the fastest cars on the grid, but have steadily fallen backwards in the pecking order as others have developed their packages and made progress, though while Stroll acknowledged their upgrades in the past year have not had the desired effect all the time, it is all “part of growing as a team.”

Lance Stroll: ‘Ultimately, we took a bit of a wrong direction’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Stroll and Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso scored a double-points finish at Silverstone, as a sign of a potential upward trajectory for the team as they look for a way towards the front of the field.

While both Aston Martins have scored points twice in the last four races, they currently hold 128 fewer points than at the same stage last season, with the majority going to Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes so far this season.

Stroll said the team are making moves to bring themselves closer to their rivals, with the Silverstone-based constructor looking to grow into one of the sport’s top challengers in the years to come.

“We were there beginning of last year, I don’t think we were totally there – we weren’t winning races last year, we had a quick car and some podiums, and a lot of top fives and stuff, but I think we still know we need to grow as a team and be stronger and more robust,” Stroll explained to media including PlanetF1.com.

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“I think, ultimately, we took a bit of a wrong direction in terms of development philosophy and didn’t, I think, kind of go down the right path, we went sort of down the wrong path.

“We’ve slowly been realising that more and more, and now it’s a matter of changing path and then giving it time to develop and get good again, by going down that different path.

“Again, I think it’s part of growing as a team, I think it’s part of learning as a team.

“Unfortunately, we’re paying the price now and we’re not where we want to be on track, in the position we want to be on track, but we keep pushing forward.”

As for a solution, Stroll said the team has been working hard behind the scenes to find the right way forward, and while lessons have been learned, the upgrades they have brought have not quite had the desired effect for them.

“I think we’ve done a lot of exploring and a lot of aero testing over the last 12 months, every upgrade we’ve brought, we haven’t seen the benefit that we were hoping to see over the last year,” he admitted.

“I think we’ve learned a lot, and now we’re really just trying to execute and then fix the problems and make the car a lot faster.”

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